Ben began to stir from his sleep. The dream he had last night was strange and a little scary. He really hopes Kenya doesn't try to teach him how to climb trees. He doesn't think his ego could take that kind of bruising.
He sticks his nose in the air and takes a few test sniffs. 'Mmm eggs, bacon, and burnt toast. My moms must be up.' he thought with a grin spreading across his face. He gave his body a good stretch and rolled out of bed. He grabbed a towel and headed for the bathroom.
He stripped out of his sleep wear and climbed under the spray of a hot shower. It felt so good that his mind begin to drift to the night before. He smiled at the text he got from her about meeting up again. He shook his head to clear it of those thoughts before stepping out of the shower. He dryed himself before wrapping the towel around himself and heading back to his room to get dressed. He threw on some jeans, light blue long sleeved shirt, socks, sneakers and backpack before heading down for breakfast.
"Good morning moms. Good morning Mrs. Anderson." He entered the kitchen to see Samantha and Martha getting breakfast together while Frances was sitting at the table sipping on a hot cup of coffee. He took a seat across from her and only waited a few minutes before a plate was placed in front of him. The food smelled really good and he began digging in.
A few minutes into his meal he heard something that almost made him drop his fork. "So Ben, how was your evening?" he heard in a sing-song voice. He looked up to see three sets of eyes staring at him. He seemed to have a hard time swallowing his food past the lump in his throat.
"Um, it was fine." He could see Samantha's eyebrow raise up as if asking for more information. He ducked his head down to try to finish his food and beat a hasty retreat.
"Uh huh. So who were you with last night. I smelled a female on you." Ben's head snapped up and he could see a smirk on Samantha's face, Frances had a straight face, and Martha was trying not to laugh at the shocked look on his face.
"Ah yeah. I ran into a friend in the forest last night." Ben tried to keep the heat from rising in his cheeks.
"A packmate? We didn't recognize her scent." Frances chimed in.
"No. She's not a packmate. Her name is Kenya and she just moved to Moon Lake over the past summer." He began to groan at the interrogation going on this morning.
Ben didn't miss the looks his moms and Martha was giving each other. A grin spread across Samantha's face. "So did you two have fun last night?" She waggled her eyebrows at him playfully.
"MOM! We just met a few days ago. She's just.... a friend. That's all." His face turned beat red as he tried to finish the food off his plate. He can hear the three ladies laughing softly and that caused the tips of his ears to redden as well.
"Aww honey, we're just messing with ya. But seriously, you're being careful right?" Samantha chuckled at the slight eye roll Ben gave her.
"We haven't done anything. We're just friends-" 'for now' Ben thought. "Anyway I have to get going. I promised I'd drive Nate and Eric to school." He got up from the table to put his plate in the sink and give both his moms a kiss on the cheek before grabbing his backpack and practically flying out the door.
Martha turned to Samantha and Frances and said "You are both so bad. He's a good kid. You have nothing to worry about." She laughs at the evil grins on their faces.
"We know. But that doesn't mean we won't bust his chops from time to time." This surprised Martha because it was coming from Frances.
MEANWHILE....
Ben could not wait to be behind the wheel of his car again. He started it up and drove up to the front of the Anderson's house. He sat outside and beeped the horn as he waited for Nate and Eric to come out. A few minutes went by before the door openef and both boys came running out. Ben saw Mr. Anderson waving at him from the front door and He he politely waved back. Nate jumped in the front while Eric hopped in the back. He made sure they put their seatbelts on before pulling off.
As he drove down the block, he looked at Eric through his rearview mirror and asked him how his date went.
"It was wonderful. We had such a good time." Eric had a dreamy look on his face.
"So good in fact that he came home with a huge gravy stain on his shirt!" Nate laughed before he recieved a light slap at the back of his head from Eric. "OWW Watch it!"
Ben laughed. It was good to see Eric not afraid to play around with his older brother like that.
Nate gave his brother a playful scowl before turning to Ben. "Say, who were you with last night? Alex said it smelled like a werepanther."
"We have werepanthers in our school too?" Eric asked.
"Her name is Kenya and I met her two nights ago in the forest. She is a werepanther but she doesn't go to our school. She just moved here over the summer and I believe she's a freshman at Moon Lake College." Ben felt more comfortable telling Nate and Eric about her then his moms.
"So that makes her what? 18 maybe 19 years old?" Nate asked with a smirk on his face.
"I-I think so. I haven't gotten around to asking her yet. We were kinda busy last night." He could feel Nate watching him and the heat creeping up his face.
"Busy huh, I bet you were." Nate chuckled at his friend's embarrassment.
Ben would have covered his face if he wasn't driving. "It's not like that! I chased her through the forest and lost her near a river. She pounced on me from a nearby tree and we both fell into the water." He could hear Nate and even Eric laughing at that. Thinking back on it, it was kinda funny. "We spent the rest of the night drying off and getting to know one another."
"Heh, you sound like Julie and I." said Eric with a small smile on his face.
Nate began staring out the passenger side window. "That's something I need to do with Alex. So far its been more ... physical than anything else." Nate felt Ben's elbow playfully poke him in the side.
"Remember, you are a new were. The high libido takes some getting used to. You'll have plenty of time to get to know Alex." He gave Nate a reassuring smile.
Nate thanked Ben and the rest of the trip to school was spent laughing and playfully making fun of one another.